Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698945612306.pdf (South Africa)
NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION NO: 335 DATE OF QUESTION: 03 JULY 2020 DATE OF SUBMISSION: 17 JULY 2020 Operation-based training for court officials Mr A Arnolds (Western Cape: EFF) to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services: [7] (1) Whether, with regard to the lack of operation-based training for court officials at the regional courts regarding sexual offences victims, there are any improvements in the training of such officials (details furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) with regard to the review of the training material that is used by stakeholders in the sexual offences sector, what plans are in place to encourage multi-skilling and skills qualifications?
CO334E 1 | P a g e REPLY: (1) The impact of the training provided to officials has not been measured to determine if there has been any change or improvement in their attitude to victims of sexual offences.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) provides training to court officials on emotional intelligence with the aim of equipping them to better handle the psychological effects of sexual offences matters.
The training programmes provided by Justice College covers the Sexual Offences Act, Domestic Violence Act, Child as a Witness and the Harassment Act, and 408 Officials have been trained.

The training curriculum on sexual offences is in line with section 66 of the Sexual Offences & Related Matters Act 32 of 2007 (as amended).
Subsection 66(2)(b) of the said Act applies to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and requires specifically that in the development of training courses for prosecutors it must (section 66(2)(b)(ii)), “include social context training in respect of sexual offences”.
For that purpose, a comprehensive module was developed by the Sexual Offences and Community Affairs (SOCA) Unit in the NPA (with inputs from relevant stakeholders) in 2008, dealing with all related aspects to social context awareness/sensitivity in a prosecutorial decision-making environment.

The aforementioned training manual is reviewed annually, and the content is amended (where required) to ensure it is line with the latest developments in law and related factors.
The specific module includes the following related content topics: a) Introduction to module (re Act 32 of 2007, preamble, definitions and objects); 2 | P a g e b) Definition of Gender-Based Violence (re United Nations protocol and SADC Protocol on Gender and Development); c) Understanding social context in a professional environment re objectives and relevance; d) Syndromes and additional elements associated with SGBV (inter alia, the Rape Trauma Syndrome, Child Abuse Accommodation Syndrome, Stockholm Syndrome, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Battered Woman Syndrome); e) Homophobia towards LGBTQIA+; f) Introspection and Johari Behaviour Model; g) Comfort zones; h) Aspects of Bias and Stereotyping; i) Secondary Victimisation; j) Aspects of sexual offences and domestic violence; k) Impact of sexual offences on victims and family; l) Barriers to Social Context Awareness; m) Judicial acknowledgment – case law; and n) Legislation relevant to social context application.
In the application of the training, prosecutors are exposed to a self-perception exercise to determine their individual and introspective behaviour and understanding of social context related topics.

In addition, SOCA Unit also developed a comprehensive integrated training manual for relevant stakeholders in the Criminal Justice System involved at the Thuthuzela Care Centres in the provinces.

This training also includes a module on social context in the same format as explained supra.
3 | P a g e The number of prosecutors and integrated stakeholders trained by the SOCA Unit within the NPA from the 2013/14 financial year until the end of the 2018/19 financial year reflects the following: Financial Year 2013/14 Name of the Training/Course Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 Total Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training Sexual Offences and domestic violence Integrated Stakeholder training 4 | P a g e Number of Sessions 12 20 9 23 14 25 12 22 10 17 5 34 62 141 Number of Attendees 212 prosecutors 564 officials (including SAPS, prosecutors, DSD, DOH, etc.)
140 prosecutors 563 officials (including prosecutors, SAPS, DSD, DOH, etc.)

265 prosecutors 711 officials (including prosecutors, SAPS, DSD, DOH, etc.)

248 prosecutors 543 officials (including prosecutors, SAPS, DSD, DOH, etc.)

153 prosecutors 469 officials (including prosecutors, SAPS, DSD, DOH, etc.)

67 prosecutors 874 officials (including prosecutors, SAPS, DSD, DOH, etc.)

1 085 prosecutors 3 724 officials N.B.


For the 2019/2020 financial year, the SOCA Unit delivered 24 decentralised training sessions on sexual offences, domestic violence, child justice, maintenance, trafficking in persons and integrated training for relevant stakeholders.

All of these sessions include a module on social context awareness training.
This activity, regarding skills development as reflected supra, is an ongoing responsibility for the NPA and is henceforth included as such in the National Prosecution Service (NPS) and SOCA Business Unit Annual Performance Plans.

Additionally, a total number of 870 Magistrates (District Court Magistrates and Regional Court Magistrates) were provided with gender-sensitive training during the 2019/20 financial year.
The training programmes focused on domestic violence, Protection from Harassment Act and Older Persons Act.

(2) The review of the training material on gender based violence has commenced with multi stakeholder meetings have been taking place with the latest one held on 19 June 2020.
The stakeholders who attended the meeting included the South African Judicial Education Institute (SAJEI), SAPS, NPA, Justice College, Safety and Security Sector Education and Training Authority (SASSETA), DoJ&CD, and institutions of higher learning, etc.

A process of integrating all training material within the criminal justice cluster will start in due course.
A Committee, to fast track the review, has been set up and the urgency of the project has been emphasized at the round table webinar of 19 June 2020.

The Justice College and SAJEI are in the process of developing a multi-sectoral, multi- skilling and skills qualification on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide where the NPA is also fully participating.

The concept of social context awareness sensitivity training is to be included in this skills qualification, due to its pertinent relevance to the topic.
5 | P a g e Below are the plans in place to encourage multi-skilling and skills qualifications: a) The training material will cover the entire criminal justice value chain.

b) Preliminary discussions were held with a sector education and training authority to also formalize the material into a recognized programme by registering it with the authorities.

6 | P a g e